Wood joints



ug- 25, 1964 R. F. LETscl-IER 3,145,435

- woon JoINTs Filed Mayes, 1962 INVENTOR United States Patent O 3,145,435 WGD IGINTS Robert F. Lo-etscher, 13.6. Box 244, Dubuque, Iowa Filed Iiiay 23, 1962, Ser. No. 198,046 3 Claims. (Cl. itl- 92) My invention relates to improvements in wood joints and has for one object to provide a joint which will be more accurate, more positive, and less expensive than joints heretofore used.

It is common to join plywood or otherthin slabs with heavier supporting elements by cutting a parallel Walled plow or groove in the heavier pieces, then applying glue and inserting the edge of the thin slab in the glued groove. In order to get a satisfactory joint by this method, it is essential that the slab be of such thickness at the penetrating edge that when it penetrates the groove arsnug lit will be had. If the slab is too thick, it will not go into the groove at all. lf it is too thin, an effective glue joint is impossible. Wood is a flexible, porous material and it is difficult to insure that the widthl of the groove and the thickness of the slab will be correct.

I propose to substitute for the parallel walled groove a groove wherein one sidewall will be perpendicular to the surface of the larger piece, the other side wall will extend diagonally outward so that the groove is truncated V-shape increasing in width from its base outwardly. When the slab is inserted in the groove, one surface of the slab will contact the perpendicular groove wall. The other surface of the slab will be opposed to but out of contact with the diagonal wall unless the thickness of the slab is greater than the minimum width of the. groove. If the thickness of the slab is the same or less than the thickness of the groove, the slab will seat on thebottom of the groove. If the slab is thicker than the minimum thickness of the groove, the slab will be clear of the bottom of the groove but will be engaged and stopped by its contact with the inclined surface.

When the slab is seated a wedge strip or a plurality of separate wedges are driven into the angular space between the slab surface and the inclined groove wall making a tight pressure tit, the wedge will be truncated at its apex so that it will not touch the bottom of the groove or plow and its inner penetration will be limited by its contact with the slab and the inclined groove wall. Gluemay be placed in the grooves of the vertical Stiles before assembly or may be placed after partial assembly in the space between the inclined wall 4 and the slab 5 or may be placed on the wedge 6 itself. In any event whenever the glue is applied, when the wedge is driven home for the final assembly operation, glue will be compressed between the opposed sides of the wedge and the slab and groove wall respectively. When the glue sets, the slab will then be held in place in its support both by the pressure of the wedge and by the gluing effect, lthe glue holding the wedge in the pressure applying position.

Other objects will appear from time to time throughout the specification and claims.

The invention is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in the accompanying drawings, wherein- FIGURE l is an exploded plan view of my joint;

FIGURE 2 is an assembled plan view of my joint;

FIGURE 3 is a front elevation of a cabinet incorporating my joint;

.FIGURE 4 is a horizontal section along the line 4*-4 of FIGURE 3 on an enlarged scale;

FIGURE 5 is a section along the line 5 5 of FIG- URE 4.

Like parts are indicated by like characters throughout the specification and drawings.

The heavy piece of wood 1, I have illustrated for convenience as the vertical back stile of a cabinet. It is lon- 3,145,435 VPatented Aug. 25, 1964 CCk 2 gitudinally grooved at 2, the groove wall3 perpendicular to the face of stile and wall 4 inclined thereto. The slab of wood or plywood 5 penetrates the groove 2 and as shown seats in the bottom of the groove, being in contact with the Wall 3 but out: of Contact with the inclined wall 4. The truncated wedge 6 may be driven into the angular space betweenv the slab 5 and wall 4 and being truncated will not seat at the bottom of the groove. Glue will be placed on the surfaces of the wedge opposite to the wall 4 and the slab 5 and the wedge will be driven home and held by any suitable means common to the Wood Working industry until the glueis set.- The-groove 2 extends perhaps throughout the length of the stile 1 but all that is necessary is thatl it extend a suiiicient length to engage the entire edge of the slab 5. -The wedge 6 may extend the full length of the groove or it may be shorter depending upon the strength of the jointfneeded.

In the application of my wedge, I have disclosed a cabinet having stiles or vertical pieces 1. At each of the two rear corners one slab 5 joins the two Stiles 1. EX- tending forwardly from each stile is a similar slab 5 iperpendicular to the first mentioned slab and reinforced by a vertical piece 7 which may well be glued to the outside of the slab and forms a door jamb. A door 8 is hinged to the door jamb '7, the cabinet has a top 9, a bottom floor 10 and has intermediate shelves 11. The cabinet may be' made with one or more shelves or the shelves might be omitted. The higher the cabinet the more shelves are needed to strengthen it if thin sides and back are used. In this design the shelves will be permanently fixed.

The stiles 1 are grooved as indicated at .12, the grooves being diagonal to the slabs 5f. Shelves 11 penetrate these grooves, being supported thereby.V -The outerv edges of the selves are supported by dowels 13 whichfextend inwardly through the doorjamb 7, the adjacentslab 5 and the edges of the shelf to make'a rigid structure'.

In my .use of the word wood 'I mean any Wood or wood-like material other than metal. It mightbe'iiber board, particle board,Y flake board, or even other plastic materials and this applies not only to the stiles and the wood sheets but also to thewedge itself. I

The use and operation of my invention are as follows:

The panel and the'groove member may be assembled dry, if desired. The wedge may be coated with glue and `driven into the angular. space between the panel vand the inclined groove wall. Or the panel and groove may be assembled dry and before the wedge is driven home glue may be applied to the space between the panel Iand the outwardly inclined groove wall, after which the Wedge will be driven home. Or glue may be applied to the parts before assembly.

While I have shown the stiles vertical and the grooves vertically extending along the stiles, it will be understood that the Stiles may be horizontal, in which case the grooves in the stiles would be horizontal to receive horizontal rather than vertical panels. In other words, the interlocking slab, stile, angular walls and wedges may be used wherever and under whatever circumstances it is desirable to hold stiles and slabs together.

Under some circumstances, it is desirable, especially in cabinet making, to have the interior of the cabinet finished before assembly because there are always problems arising in finishing a closed cabinet. Under these circumstances the panel will be finished on one side and left in the white on the other. The glue will be applied only to the area between the unfinished surface and the grooved member.

It is important that the glue be applied in such a way that while glue may ow into the space on both sides of the panel, it does not come out of the groove on the side where it can be seen.

aia-5,435

For convenience, I have positioned the joint and referred to it as vertical joints. Obviously the same joint may be vertical or horizontal, depending on which Way you look at it.

The truncated V cross section or yangle walled groove has been illustrated in stiles but of course the stile is just one piece of wood, for example-the top 9 of the cabinet might kbe a tlat piece of wood with truncated grooves to receive the slabs together with the usual Wedges 6.

I claim:

1. A wood joint including a relatively thick, heavy Wood stile having a plane surface, a tl-shaped groove extending longitudinally of the stile inwardly from the plane surface, having one plane wall perpendicular to the plane surface of the stile, the bottom of the groove being bounded by a plane surface parallel to the plane surface of the stile, the other side of the groove being bounded by a plane wall inclined outwardly yfrom the bottom of the groove toward the plane surface of the stile, a relatively thin, at sheet of wood perpendicular to the plane face of the stile, penetrating the groove and contacting the perpendicular wall thereof, a Vtapered wedge penetrating the groove and having a plane surface in contact with the having a plane surface in contact with one of the wood sheets and a plane surface inclined thereto in contact with the inclined Wall of the groove, glue within each groove in contact with the associated wall and wedge, each wedge being out of contact with the bottom of the groove and compressing and locking the groove, the stile and the plate together.

3. In a cabinet, a relatively thick, heavy vertical wood stile generally rectangular in cross section and having two plane faces perpendicular to one another, V-shaped grooves extending longitudinally vertically of the stile inwardly from each plane surface, each groove having one plane wall perpendicular to the plane surface of the wall, the plane walls of each groove being on the side of sheet and a plane surface inclined thereto in contact with the inclined wall of the groove, glue within the groovein contact with stile, sheet and wedge, the wedgeV being out of contact with the bottom of the groove and each groove being bounded by a plane surface parallel to o,

the plane surface of the stile in which the groove is located, the other side of each groove being bounded by a plane wall inclined outwardly from the bottom of the groove'toward the plane surface of the stile in which the groove is located, the outwardly inclined groovedwvalls ,being in each case on the side of the groove furthest from the other groove, a relatively thin flat sheet of wood penetrating each groove perpendicular to the plane face of the stile in which the groove is located andcontacting jthe perpendicular Wall of the groove into Awhich it penetrates, the tapered wedges penetrating the groove, each the groove nearest to the other groove, the bottom of each groove being bounded by a plane surface parallel to the plane surface of the stile in which the groove is located, the other side of each groove being bounded by a plane wall inclined outwardly from the bottom of the groove toward the plane surface of the stile in which the groove is located, the outwardly inclined grooved Walls being in each case on the side of the groove furthestV from the other groove, a relatively thin, dat sheet of wood penetrating each groove perpendicular to the plane face of the stile in which the groove is located and contacting the perpendicular wall of the groove into which it penetrates, the tapered wedges penetrating the groove, each,

having a plane surface in contact with one of the wood sheets and a plane surface inclined thereto in contact with the inclined wall of the groove, glue within each groove in Contact with the associated Wall and wedge, each wedge being out or contact with the bottom of the groove and compressing and locking the groove,the stile and the plate together, i

a horizonal groove in the stile extending across kthe corner thereof between the vertical grooves, the hottom of the horizontal groove passing through the intersections of the plane vertically grooved stile face and the perpendicular walls of the grooves within the stile. Y

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 298,183 Curley May 6, 1884 884,098 Lindskog Apr. 7, 1908 1,797,925 Plym Mar. 24, 1931 l FOREIGN PATENTS 609,547 Great Britain Oct. 4, 1948 

1. A WOOD JOINT INCLUDING A RELATIVELY THICK, HEAVY WOOD STILE HAVING A PLANE SURFACE, A V-SHAPED GROOVE EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OF THE STILE INWARDLY FROM THE PLANE SURFACE, HAVING ONE PLANE WALL PERPENDICULAR TO THE PLANE SURFACE OF THE STILE, THE BOTTOM OF THE GROOVE BEING BOUNDED BY A PLANE SURFACE PARALLEL TO THE PLANE SURFACE OF THE STILE, THE OTHER SIDE OF THE GROOVE BEING BOUNDED BY A PLANE WALL INCLINED OUTWARDLY FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE GROOVE TOWARD THE PLANE SURFACE OF THE STILE, A RELATIVELY THIN, FLAT SHEET OF WOOD PERPENDICULAR TO THE PLANE FACE OF THE STILE, PENETRATING THE GROOVE AND CONTACTING THE PERPENDICULAR WALL THEREOF, A TAPERED WEDGE PENETRATING THE 